Refreshing Limeade
Let me start off by saying that I LOVE made from scratch lemonade!! Which is a weird way to start a recipe post about limeade, but my love of lemonade really bleeds over to all ades. It’s that tart sweet taste that I really love and ades just fit the bill. So, when I’m looking for a refreshing drink I look to the limes. Generally, they go on sale and you can easily snap up a few dozen for cheap. The key is ignoring everyone staring as you toss the limes to judge their weight.
Which makes it the perfect time to experiment in the kitchen, especially since I found this old crank juicer in the basement. It doesn’t look gorgeous, but it makes juicing limes a breeze. With this baby I can juice half a dozen limes in a fraction of the time it would take me to use my glass juice reamer. So there’s really no excuse not to have a pitcher of limeade in the fridge at all times.
When Life Gives You Limes Make Limeade
So how did this limeade come about? Well, a menu plan gone awry led to an excess of fruit. When you live in Chicagoland especially inside ethnic independent grocery stores, you can buy loads of fruit on sale. So I thought what to do with an abundance of pears and raspberries? Raspberry Pear Limeade just happened and boy am I glad it did.
Raspberry Pear Limeade has a hint of pear, the lip puckering/mouth-watering tart of limes and the yummy raspberry to pull it all together. It’s easy-peasy to throw together in just a few minutes…so there’s no reason not to have this chilling in the fridge on a warm almost spring day. Not only is this fantastic over ice….if you were to add a shot of raspberry rum it makes a great almost margarita!
- 5 limes, juiced (roughly 1/2 cup)
- 1 ripe bartlett pear, peeled and roughly chopped
- 10 raspberries
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cups + 1/2 cup water, divided
- In a blender, combine lime juice, pear and raspberries. Puree till smooth and pour into pitcher. Add 2 cups cold water to the puree in the pitcher.
- In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1/2 cup water and heat until sugar melts to make a simple syrup. Pour into puree in the pitcher.
- Chill in refrigerator until cold, at least 2 hours. To serve, shake and then pour over a glass of ice.
- If you're feeling a margarita....add a shot of raspberry rum.
